Suspect spoke about 'nice bright' girls

Miss Carr said she talked to the girls a lot

A former teaching assistant in Holly and Jessica's class who is being questioned by police spoke to the media before her arrest about her memories of the girls.

Maxine Carr, 25, was a teaching assistant in their class at St Andrews Primary School in Soham until the end of last term.

She said she had a good relationship with the pair and was a particular favourite with Holly, who cried on the last day of term.

The two girls were "nice, bright" youngsters who looked after each other, said Miss Carr.

I can't believe that they have run away

Maxine Carr

Jessica was on holiday for the last week of term but on the final day, Holly made Miss Carr a leaving card and gave her a box of Roses chocolates.

"Holly gave me a card with a smiley face on the front and a poem inside," said Miss Carr, who had recently missed out on a full-time post at the school.

"Holly was crying that I didn't get the job."

The poem began: "It is class 12's special TA, We will miss her a lot."

The girls called the assistant 'Maxine'

And it ended: "C U in the future Miss Carr. Don't leave us. Don't go far."

The card was signed off: "C Ya, Miss Ya, Luv Holly."

Miss Carr said: "Jessica is more of a tomboy type. She loves playing football and swimming. They are both very nice, bright kids.

"You didn't often see Jessica wearing a skirt. She always seemed to wear trousers.

Chatrooms

"She would say 'When you get married, I want to be your bridesmaid. I will even wear a dress'."

Miss Carr's partner, Ian Huntley, who is also being questioned by police, spoke to the girls on Sunday evening shortly before their disappearance.

Holly was upset to say goodbye

And she said if only she had not been in the bath at the time, she may have spoken to them and got a clue about what was to happen.

She said: "Holly's more feminine. She's a lovely girl. She's very bright, very good at English, she always gets good scores on her tests.

"Her handwriting is very neat and it was a very neat card."

She added: "I used to talk to them a lot at school. They used to call me Maxine when the teacher couldn't hear."

Jessica promised to be Miss Carr's bridesmaid

Both children were computer-literate and would have been able to use chatrooms, Miss Carr said.

But she said it was unlikely they would have got into a car with a stranger.

She added: "Jessica would have screamed the place down. They would have looked out for each other."

Police have issued a dedicated telephone hotline for the public to call on 01480 422982.